What we're saying

Talk Social: 13 March, 2018

Pinterest’s rise and rise as a social platform where users like to shop has been revealed in new data.

The visual social media app collected data on the behaviours of 4,000 active users, who are pinning weekly.

And it revealed that nine in 10 of this group use Pinterest to make decisions about what to buy, four in five think content they see from brands is ‘helpful’ and almost three quarters (72 per cent) say Pinterest inspires them when they aren’t actually looking for anything to buy.

Pinterest’s power as a referral route is also shown by data that reveals it – proportionately – refers 33 per cent more traffic than Facebook, 71 per cent more than Snapchat and 200 per cent more than twitter.

Snapchat users can now tag others in their stories, copying the functionality already offered by Instagram.

This is a quick way for individuals and brands to expose more people to their content on the social platform, for instance if a user with lots of followers shows a product or brand in their snap, they can now directly link to the brand profile.

The process to tag is very similar to Instagram, which introduced tagging on stories at the end of 2016.

Amazon’s Alexa has an update, to allow for more natural conversations. The follow-up feature means that a second command inside five seconds of a first won’t have to begin with ‘Alexa…’.

Users need to enable it from their settings and will know that the device is still active from the presence of a blue light that shows it’s listening. To end, a simple ‘thank you’ or ‘stop’ will be recognised.

This evolution of the smart speaker is continuing apace, with more complex skills being added daily, along with the presence of Apple in the sector now with its Home Pod.

The first till-less, smart supermarket in the UK has opened in Manchester.

The Co-op is trialling the new concept store in the shadow of its HQ building in Manchester city centre, where shoppers will scan items with their smartphones on an app while they shop – and check out with one click.

Debit card details are stored in the app, allowing for scan and go shopping.

At present, the store is only open to Co-op staff, but if successful it will be trialled with the public in other city centre locations.

Amazon already has a number of till-less stores operational in the US, where scan and go shopping is possible.